How often do you disconnect?

[MOguy]

I have the stock bar, I had a broken link for a few months and never noticed it but after repairing it I noriced the difference. Without the front sway bar, there was a twitch getting set up to take a highway cutve at double the posted limit. Once fixed, the twitch disappeared, no need to set up, my Wrangler was just point and shoot.

I plan on installing the Currie AntiRock this year mostly so I can drop my winch 2". I know I'll have zero issues with reduced stiffness but yes, the TJ Wrangler is incredibly well balanced when left stock. I'm thinking a 4"lift has a far more negative affect on roll control than a smaller sway bar.

I often run disconnected in the front, It does handle different. I broke the bolt in my rear link. That was very noticeable with the front discoed. With the front connected i didn't notice the rear being broke but with both, holy crap.

 

[MOguy]

Yep, before the 1970s very few cars came with sway bars.

You also didn't experience as much death wobble either. But you had leaf spring instead of coils.

 

[Bobzdar]

I disconnect every time I'm in 4 low - of course on mine it's just a button push so nbd. Also usually lock the rear diff at the same time. Lock the front if things look really rough.

 

[MOguy]

I disconnect every time I'm in 4 low - of course on mine it's just a button push so nbd. Also usually lock the rear diff at the same time. Lock the front if things look really rough.

you got one of them new fancy Jeeps.

 

[Bobzdar]

you got one of them new fancy Jeeps.

Well, on my TJ the front sway bar disconnected itself at about 70k miles and I never reconnected it.

 

[GetOutThere]

I disconnect every time I'm off road. And I've just popped another link, so currently I also disconnect any time I'm on road

 

[wjeeper]

A well tuned suspension doesn't really need swaybars. Track car is probably the exception ....Unpopular opinion in some circles I am sure.

 

[billiebob]

You also didn't experience as much death wobble either. But you had leaf spring instead of coils.

I was talking cars and trucks. Most cars back then had coils very few had sway bars.
But how does death wobble figure in? It has nothing to do with the presence or absence of sway bars.

 

[shade]

A well tuned suspension doesn't really need swaybars. Track car is probably the exception ....Unpopular opinion in some circles I am sure.

Maybe, but there's only so much tuning that can be done with some vehicles and the loads they carry. I recommend people conduct some basic testing in a safe area to see how their vehicle handles, and make their decision based on that. If you can't perform emergency avoidance maneuvers without the bar, better to leave it be, or rethink the suspension.

 

[MOguy]

I was talking cars and trucks. Most cars back then had coils very few had sway bars.
But how does death wobble figure in? It has nothing to do with the presence or absence of sway bars.

Just a comment on changes years from leaf to coils on heavier vehicles and more occurrences of death wobble.

 

[MOguy]

A well tuned suspension doesn't really need swaybars. Track car is probably the exception ....Unpopular opinion in some circles I am sure.

Well tuned is a subjective term.

I liked all the flex of disconnecting when I did more rock crawling and technical trails. Now that I cover more distance over moderate trails, unimproved roads and paved roads I see the value of the added convince that the anti rock offers.

If my suspension was designed to not need a sway bar were do I compromise. What characteristics should I give up, stability or articulation.

Could I have them both from the same setup?

 

[Happy Joe]

I haven't needed to disconnect the anti-sway bars in years... I rarely travel extreme terrain any more.
Back in the stone ages (20th century) I sometimes removed the front anti-sway bar entirely from the vehicle until I learned better.
once I learned how to properly gear the axles; while finding (and installing) lockers (long after learning the correct techniques of off road driving) and started using decent, medium traction, MUD tires, or for more serious terrain Boggers) the need to disconnect the anti-sway bar dropped to near zero.

After I started optimizing the street air pressure in the tires (for near optimum tire life(chalk test)) I really only needed to drop the tire pressure for the more difficult/extreme trails or off road snow wheeling.
Eventually I got tired of switching between the much higher traction of dedicated off road tires (Boggers) and the medium traction (longer lasting) BFG mud tires so I went to BFG mud terrains and sold the Boggers (I miss the traction sometimes but not enough to buy another set and change them out whenever I go off road on serious terrain... aired down Boggers are much harder on axle parts).

I will say that the pathetic travel of the OEM independent front (and rear) suspension 4wd vehicles does increase the incentive to air down and disconnect anti-sway bars (especially when trying to use all terrain tires off road, this is only partially mediated by the electronic traction controls available today (IMO).

Enjoy!

Edit; a couple of comment on antis-way bars stability and custom suspensions;
I now increase the anti-sway bar diameter on dual purpose street and off road vehicles (though I still rarely, if ever, disconnect them) on road handling is more important to me than lifting a single tire off the ground with the air lockers engaged.
...for truly extreme terrain I would recommend building a rock buggy with a link suspension (either independent suspension or solid axle but definitely with cutting brakes and rear steering (portal axles are also highly recommended for the world class extreme). It likely wont be licence-able or insure-able so on road handling probably won't be much of a concern.

I have only ever encountered Death Wobble on poorly engineered/modified/set up vehicles or vehicles with worn suspension parts... improper caster with lifted suspensions has regularly been found to be a contributor.

Enjoy!

 

[Blue Baby Sound]

We always disco the front off road, not only for traction but ride quality. In the Rubi we manually disco as well, even though it has a fancy button.
I'm not a fan of removing it, in emergency maneuvers at speed it's crucial.

 

[DaveInDenver]

It's more than just lifting tires in rocks. Sway bars by their nature cause an opposing force across the axle which in effect causes the suspension and body to squat when it's active (called suspension jacking). This is usually what you want when the road surface is durable and flat and you have both wheels on it.

But a sway bar will work against you when one tire is no longer on that smooth, flat surface. One such case is if you run a wheel over the edge of a roadway. There's a point in a grade cross section called the hinge point, where the mostly flat slope transitions to become steeper. If the sway bar is trying to keep your body plane parallel to this newly steeper plane you reinforce the tendency for center of mass (which you no doubt raised with a RTT or roof rack with MaxTrax, shovel and Hi-Lift) to push you over.

Another case is pot holes, corrugations and washboard. Having the sway bar impart a cross-axle force tends to unsettle suspension so instead of each shock independently damping oscillations you get more jarring.

It doesn't have to be rock crawling for there to be benefits to disconnecting your sway bar and letting the suspension articulate. Also increasing spring or damping rates can alleviate some of the body lean and sway issues that the sway bar was originally compensating for.

 

[luthj]

Maybe, but there's only so much tuning that can be done with some vehicles and the loads they carry. I recommend people conduct some basic testing in a safe area to see how their vehicle handles, and make their decision based on that. If you can't perform emergency avoidance maneuvers without the bar, better to leave it be, or rethink the suspension.

I agree strongly. Even the best shock package can't fully mitigate the moment of inertia created by a high and loaded 4x4 during an emergency maneuver. Even if the rig doesn't roll, the loss of control due to lateral weight shift can be disastrous.

Typically to get the same roll resistance without a sway bar, you need much stiffer primary springs. Hence why most MFGs use sway bars, for the best compromise between comfort and safety.

It would also be worthwhile seeing how much articulation loss you have with the sway bar connected. Just jack up under one side of the axle to see when the wheel lift occurs with/without. The difference may not be significant, depending on the bar stiffness, vehicle weight, etc.